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Atlas / NTSB / ATL90LA166

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event ATL90LA166

1990-08-27 INDIAN TRAIL, North Carolina, United States Airport · 28A None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE FAILURE OF THE PILOT TO HAVE THE LANDING GEAR INSPECTED AFTER EXPERIENCING UNSAFE GEAR INDICATIONS.

Factual narrative

DURING SEVERAL FLIGHTS THE PILOT HAD EXPERIENCED LANDING GEAR INDICATOR PROBLEMS; HOWEVER, THERE HAD NOT BEEN A GEAR FAILURE. ON THE ACCIDENT FLIGHT THE PILOT AGAIN EXPERIENCED AN UNSAFE CONDITION AND AS THE AIRPLANE ROLLED OUT, THE LEFT GEAR RETRACTED AND THE AIRPLANE VEERED OFF THE LEFT SIDE OF THE RUNWAY. THE OVER-CENTER LOCK WAS UNLOCKED. THERE WAS NO MECHANICAL REASON FOR THIS FAILURE. HOWEVER, THE RUNWAY CONDITION WAS DESCRIBED AS ROUGH WITH SEVERAL POTHOLES. THE MANUFACTURER STATED THAT THE LANDING GEAR MAY INADVERTENTLY RETRACT DURING OPERATION ON ROUGH TERRAIN. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_ATL90LA166.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.